


One More Choice

by TwoCatsTailoring



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Afterlife, Canon Compliant, Gen, Not Beta Read, Not Really Character Death, Post-Dirge of Cerberus (Compilation of FFVII)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23239918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwoCatsTailoring/pseuds/TwoCatsTailoring
Summary: Chaos and Omega return to the planet. That leaves Vincent in a unique situation. Fortunately, he has an old friend there to help him through it.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Vincent Valentine
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	One More Choice

**Author's Note:**

> This work takes some very solid knowledge of the entire Compilation canon, particularly Dirge of Cerberus.

It had felt, honestly, like falling. That seemed a little cliche, even at the time, but Vincent did not mind cliches. They were overused and unoriginal for a reason, after all. 

But dying also felt so empty. So gnawingly empty. He had not expected that, and as he fell, he had plenty of time to reflect on it. He finally came to the decision that the emptiness was understandable, given that he would not be dead if he had not just lost Chaos.

He had left voluntarily, of course. Vincent wasn’t sure exactly how he had come to possess any of his demons. Still, he knew that Chaos wasn’t so easily extracted as say Galian’s arm might be. Chaos felt different, as well. Chaos was everywhere all the time, not just an appendage that could take over at will. But, Chaos had been what had kept him from dying due to the presence of the others. So it only made sense that without Chaos….

He had been falling for a very long time now. It was excessive, Vincent thought.

No sooner had he thought it than he stopped falling. Without a stumble or an impact, he just stopped, feet on the ground. Or the expanse of white that he supposed was the ground. 

“I wondered how long it would take you to figure that one out.” He knew that voice. “You’ve always had the patience of a saint, though.”

And that face was a welcome sight. If he had to die, he supposed it was nice to be greeted by a friend.

“Aerith.”

Her light giggle was just as he remembered it and he hid a smile in the collar of his cape. She could make anyone laugh with that twinkle in her eye that usually spelled mischief for everyone around her. 

Vincent had missed that the most.

She reached for and took his hand in hers, a gentle smile on her face. “It’s good to see you again, Vincent. But….”

Of course. There was always going to be a ‘but’ wasn’t there? “I don’t belong here, do I?”

“No, no!” Aerith gave his hand a squeeze. “You do! It’s just. Well,” she hesitated, frowning down at the floor for a moment, fishing for the right words. “You don’t have to stay.”

He wasn’t sure how to take that. A choice? Dying was generally permanent unless someone stopped the process before it was over. This situation seemed to indicate that for him, this time, nothing had been there to intervene.

Aerith pressed on in his silence. “You’ve always been a special case, you know. Different. I guess that means that when it comes to dying, you’re special too.”

“How?” Vincent asked.

“You get to choose.” Before he could interrupt, she hurried on. “Hear me out before you decide, okay?”

He had all the time outside of the world, so he nodded for her to continue.

She smiled again as she continued. “It’s not really _time_ ,” she drew the word out, elongating the vowel to emphasize her point, “For you to be here. It never really was supposed to be time, but without Chaos, you couldn’t heal from your injuries. And you’ve taken some bad ones recently.” She flicked her eyes in the direction of his chest, where the Protomateria had sat.

She didn’t know, of course. He’d only just figured out how reliant he’d been on both the Protomateria and Chaos. Vincent shook his head and explained, “Chaos was keeping me alive. Without it, I can’t live.”

Aerith shook her head again and switched her hand from his to the bend of his elbow and gave him a small tug to get him moving at a leisurely stroll through the nothingness that was here. “Not exactly. See, Chaos was, for you, a built-in healer. It kept you alive because, without a vessel, it couldn’t survive.”

Vincent frowned down at her but said nothing.

“I know it sounds strange, but that’s just the basic truth.” She shrugged and added, “It’s not so much that Choas saved you, but Chaos saving itself.”

Vincent turned this over in his head. “So Chaos was born early as well?”

Aerith nodded, “From what I’ve been told, yes. You survived Chaos where others didn’t because…,” 

“... of what Hojo did after he shot me.” That made sense and matched what he’d learned. But it still didn’t explain what she was really getting at. “But how does that give me a choice?”

“You don’t have a time to die, Vincent. Not yet,” Aerith explained with one of her self-satisfied smiles. “That doesn’t mean you won’t, but it does mean that right _now_ if you want, you can go back.”

She didn’t have to spell out what that would mean for him to understand. A chance at life, a real one. Not as weighed down by guilt, not ruled by misunderstood circumstances. An opportunity to actually give moving forward a chance. For the first time in a very long time, that sounded like something he wanted to try. 

But, if he stayed here in the Lifestream, there was a lot less risk involved. He’d be safe, not able to make any more mistakes. It couldn’t be that much different from his years in the basement of the ShinRa mansion. He could find peace with his past and sink into non-existence, comfortable in the knowledge that he’d done everything he could while he was alive.

But had he? Really? Could he really say that he’d done _everything_ he could? What about everything he’d hadn’t done because he did not have the truth of his life until recently? What about all the things that he could have said if he hadn’t been weighed down by misplaced guilt? 

And did he really want to go? What else was out there for him to try now? Could he really stay here, knowing that there was so much he might be able to do? What more could he learn? See? Experience? Would he really be _content_ to stay and not wonder…?

Aerith leaned forward and looked up at him, interrupting his train of thought. “I feel like you’ve made a decision already.”

“Maybe,” he said, stopping to look down at her. “Both options are tempting.”

Aerith tapped a finger to her chin and thought about it for a moment before she replied. “Equally tempting?”

Vincent surveyed her face, caught in time, unchanged since the day she’d died. He’d wanted to lie to her on many occasions - when she’d asked to straighten out the mess of his hair, when she’d asked how he’d gotten all of his demons, when she’d asked if he’d ever met her father. But now, it wasn't necessary. 

“No.” 

The smile that spread over her face was radiant, warm and bright as the sun through the trees that surrounded the house he’d grown up in. “It won’t be easy,” she warned, taking his hands in hers. “Remember that you aren’t alone anymore, okay?”

Vincent nodded, and Aerith stood on the tips of her toes to press her forehead to his. “Do me a favor, okay?”

“Of course.” Vincent had to close his eyes as the white of the Lifestream thrummed and glowed, pulsing and swirling enough to make him dizzy.

She giggled, her voice sounding both very close by and far away at the same time. “Lose the cape.” 

”What’s wrong with my cape?” he asked, opening his eyes in spite of the light.

She was gone. 

Birds wheeled across the blue sky overhead, and he stood up, stiff and sore for the first time in more than 30 years but smiling, and headed west.


End file.
